Ottawa
I’ve spent much of today recovering from a wonderful but exhausting week, and only made it out of bed for a few hours here and there. It’s been a delightful break, and I’m much refreshed to head into the weekend.
The city has been very kind to me, and I’m already mentally planning future trips. Ottawa is lovely (even under a record-shattering heat wave), the audiences are kind, and Canadian multi-culturalism is beautifully on display. During my conversations I’ve veered off into dulcimer-related tangents on the cymbalom, santur, and yanquin for Hungarian, Iranian, and Chinese immigrants and visitors. As I played “The Ashgrove” a couple wandering past “that’s Welsh and we’re from Wales!” Even elsewhere in Canada I’d be hard-pressed to find such a varied audience.
The French-Canadian connection is also incredibly strong, since we’re just across the river from Quebec. As I’ve struggled with a few French phrases (much to the amusement of my friends) I’ve been told I have a very strong Italian accent. I’d noticed that in Barcelona as I drew on my reserves in Spanish, and when you can hear your own accent it must be pretty serious.
I’ve been performing at the Byward Market, which is a very neat neighborhood and marketplace, lively and full of vendors. With all due respect to New Orleans, it’s kind of refreshing to play at a “French Market” where people actually speak it. I’ve been playing mornings and late afternoons, taking a break in a nearby park between sets and visiting with friends in the evenings. It’s been an intense week, but I’ve been loving it.
And, most of all, I had a fantastic concert on Wednesday night. I’m staying in town with a friend, Micayla, and when I was making housing arrangements my friend TSivia offered to host a house concert of sorts at the University of Ottawa, where she is a faculty member. Although I’ve never done any such thing before I readily agreed, and it went smashingly. I had an absolutely incredible time, my audience seemed to enjoy themselves, and I’m eager to do more along these lines!
In short, life is good, and I’ve made friends with a new city to boot.
The city has been very kind to me, and I’m already mentally planning future trips. Ottawa is lovely (even under a record-shattering heat wave), the audiences are kind, and Canadian multi-culturalism is beautifully on display. During my conversations I’ve veered off into dulcimer-related tangents on the cymbalom, santur, and yanquin for Hungarian, Iranian, and Chinese immigrants and visitors. As I played “The Ashgrove” a couple wandering past “that’s Welsh and we’re from Wales!” Even elsewhere in Canada I’d be hard-pressed to find such a varied audience.
The French-Canadian connection is also incredibly strong, since we’re just across the river from Quebec. As I’ve struggled with a few French phrases (much to the amusement of my friends) I’ve been told I have a very strong Italian accent. I’d noticed that in Barcelona as I drew on my reserves in Spanish, and when you can hear your own accent it must be pretty serious.
I’ve been performing at the Byward Market, which is a very neat neighborhood and marketplace, lively and full of vendors. With all due respect to New Orleans, it’s kind of refreshing to play at a “French Market” where people actually speak it. I’ve been playing mornings and late afternoons, taking a break in a nearby park between sets and visiting with friends in the evenings. It’s been an intense week, but I’ve been loving it.
And, most of all, I had a fantastic concert on Wednesday night. I’m staying in town with a friend, Micayla, and when I was making housing arrangements my friend TSivia offered to host a house concert of sorts at the University of Ottawa, where she is a faculty member. Although I’ve never done any such thing before I readily agreed, and it went smashingly. I had an absolutely incredible time, my audience seemed to enjoy themselves, and I’m eager to do more along these lines!
In short, life is good, and I’ve made friends with a new city to boot.